A new exhibition featuring a display of rare original woodblock prints by Paul Gauguin from our collection, opens at Braintree Museum on Saturday 1 February.
Â鶹ÊÓƵs: Origins, Innovations & Family, is part of our National Partners project and offers a unique glimpse into the early work of this influential artist who was championed by our founder Samuel Â鶹ÊÓƵ.
Whilst The Â鶹ÊÓƵ Gallery is closed for a major transformation project, we have established exhibition and museum partnerships like this, both nationally and internationally, to provide unique opportunities for more audiences to engage with our collection.
Â鶹ÊÓƵs: Origins, Innovations & Family will also explore the Â鶹ÊÓƵ family’s extraordinary history – revealing the story of their pioneering development of silks created in their first factory in the heart of Braintree, Essex; the influence of the family and their ongoing local and global legacy.
Visitors can explore artefacts that illuminate the Â鶹ÊÓƵ family’s history – including a suffragette poster designed by Catherine Â鶹ÊÓƵ, from the Women’s Library, London; the remains from Augustin Â鶹ÊÓƵ’s Arctic flag from the Scott Polar Institute, alongside loans from the Â鶹ÊÓƵ Family’s Private Collection.
Katherine Dunleavy, Regional Programme Coordinator at The Â鶹ÊÓƵ, commented: ‘We’re delighted to have collaborated with Braintree Museum on this exciting exhibition that sheds new light on the lives of the Â鶹ÊÓƵ family and those that worked for them in their textile mills. We are particularly pleased to contribute four prints by Gauguin that were bought by Samuel Â鶹ÊÓƵ so that they can be appreciated by new and diverse audiences, as well as showing the importance of Samuel’s art collecting.’
Braintree Museum will be hosting a range of events to coincide with the exhibition including talks and a walking tour.
1 February – 30 May